DECO 1945A - Family Economics

Pre-requisite

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to the economic analysis of households. It will first discuss how families have changed in recent decades and how it might impact inequalities: the disconnect between marriage and the couple, decline in fertility rates, increase in women's education and labor supply. Then, it will shed light on how the economic approach helps understand intrahousehold decision making. Finally, it will analyze the economic causes and consequences of changing patterns of education, fertility, labor supply and marriage decisions. Across the topics, the course will keep a focus on the impact of public policies on individual decisions.

Additional required reading

Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2002. "The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women's Career and Marriage Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(4), pages 730-770, August.

Becker, Gary S, 1993. "Nobel Lecture: The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 385-409, June.

Gary Becker, 1992 « A treatise of the family » Harvard University Press – chapter 1, 2 and 4 (there are two editions, chapters refer to the 1992 edition)